Best American Road Races

You could also call it the most popular races. I would like to see the Top 34 road races that aren't the most popular.

I've seen similar lists from Runners World in the past and, as someone who lived in Minnesota for 15 years, have the same reaction now as I had then. If you have to choose just one Minnesota marathon, is the Twin Cities Marathon really more "iconic" than Grandma's Marathon? Don't get me wrong, I love TCM! In fact most runners I knew who lived in the Twin Cities had done both and all preferred the Twin Cities Marathon. It's logistically much easier and is a beautiful course. But they also all said that Grandma's was just something you had to do at some point, because, well, it's Grandma's! I think most of my running friends would say that Grandma's is more iconic, even though they would rather actually run Twin Cities. Do people who live outside of the area feel differently? Perhaps others would say the Twin Cities marathon is more iconic? Maybe I take it for granted after living there for so many years!

Bay to Breakers is by far the weirdest run I’ve ever had. They throw tortillas around at the start. I don’t know why and I didn’t know before hand, so it was a little alarming getting pelted but I adapted.

Good hard run aaaaand I get passed by a dude wearing only socks and his Brooks. I hope this guy has clothes at the end - this is a point to point race.

There are sobriety tents & check points on the course. Behind the 40,000 paid runners are 40,000 more people that bandit and party. Cops pull them out if they’re too drunk.

And a second completely naked guy passes me before the finish.

I highly recommend y’all try it at least once. It is a sight to behold.

I appreciate that they start at #1 and work down instead of starting at 34 and having a whole new tab for each race.

As a Philly homer, I'm definitely going to back Broad Street, even if it's become a bloated horror in some ways in the last decade—but probably no more so than any other significantly in-demand race. It's unquestionably the race to do in the city, to the point where locals will shiv you for a bib. That should tell you everything.

But putting the Philly Marathon in here is... maybe a stretch. Yeah, it's one of the 10(ish) biggest in the country and Parks & Rec has done a lot to improve it the last few years (splitting the half off to Saturday; generally making race weekend a big party for everyone from age 2 to age 90), but it's kind of a middling race.

A lot of that has to do with the course; the front half is excellent, but the back half—the couple miles in Manayunk excluded—is, well, kind of a letdown. If you're a local, it's a stretch you've probably run so many times, your brain is gonna shut off. If you're an out-of-towner, then Kelly Drive is just this side of scenic; the race is too late in the fall to be pretty and colorful, and so it become a gamble on good weather and enough fan support through East Falls/Manayunk to keep the back half, but the last 10K especially, in the "worth it" zone.

Unfortunately, barring a course redesign (probably not happening) or a move to late October (and because of New York, Baltimore and Marine Corps, also probably not happening), Philly's always gonna be just a little bit off from ideal.

And don't get me wrong: it's a fun race and a decently fast course, so you should run it if you get the chance. It just maybe doesn't quite live up to "iconic."

As a Chicago runner, I am a little torn on Soldier Field 10 mile being listed over the Shamrock Shuffle. Running on Lake Shore Drive is always neat, but the second half of SF is just the lake front trail that we all use every weekend. Give me the Shuffle in the loop, where the tall buildings make your gps useless and you have to race as God intended, by feel and guts.

Missing - I'd add-in as just my ,02.

1. Imogene Pass Run - This run is amazing. It's 17.1 miles, starting in Ouray, Colorado (7,100ft) and running 10 miles up to Imogene Pass (13,100 ft). Then you run 7.1 miles quad bashing miles DOWN DOWN DOWN to Telluride (8750ft). The finish line ends in downtown Telluride and everyone lines the streets to yell and cheer. It was a blast to do. I haven't done Mount Marathon, but having seen the Salomon video, it has similar vibes.
2. YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot - I'm a homer here (Buffalo born and raised) but it's the oldest consecutively run footrace in North America starting in 1896 They ran the race this year with a super reduced crowd to keep the streak alive. 14,000 people run from the Delaware YMCA to downtown Buffalo, finishing at the Convention Center with a gigantic massive party with tons of food and enough beer to make you feel ok after all the beer you drank on Thanksgiving Eve. For those who want to run, they actually have a decent "elite" crowd come out and they film the front pack and play it at the Convention Center for everyone to watch.

I see no Krispy Kreme Challenge

As a New England runner, they nailed it by including Falmouth and Beach to Beacon (and of course Boston Marathon). The excitement around these events is unbelievable, and the crowd support and community engagement is the epitome of New England summer culture.

The only other northern New England race that deserves mention is the Mount Washington Road Race. I haven't done it, but it's on my bucket list.

The paradoxical problem with these, of course, is that because they're such great events, they're limited entry, but it's worth the effort to get into them nonetheless, because they're so much fun.

About number 2...

That's the second best race in America? I'm not sure I could imagine a worse race experience than that.

To keep things in a bit of perspective, these sorts of stories are designed to get people talking about them. Any time you see "Top X whatever", it's designed to have omissions or "mistakes" or controversies so that people will click the links and get the name of the magazine/newspaper/whatever into your daily life.

"Did you see what Runner's World said??"

So, if you disagree or think something was missing or overrated, it was all by design.

I'm surprised I don't have more objections, honestly. It seems like a decent blend of distances and geography. I hadn't heard of some of them (like the Solider Field 10 miler) and will add them to my bucket list once races become a thing again.

It would have been nice to see an ultra or two on there. Something like Western States, Hard Rock or Lake Sonoma 50.

I went looking for the Crescent City Classic 10k in New Orleans, and wasn’t disappointed! This is our Boston—literally everyone in Louisiana does it. Even non-runners walk it, but there are also East African elites there every year. It’s by far the largest race in the state and has a long history. It’s a fast course and most years we have great weather. Can’t wait for it to happen again.

Bix is legit. It's a well organized run through some pretty neighborhoods that get into full-on party mode with some decent hills mixed in. Super fun course. If you're local they shut down the course on four Thursday evenings leading up to the race and you can run a practice route on the real course. The neighbors come out for that and party pretty good too. Only downside is that the July date in Iowa means hot and humid.

Manchester Road Race needs to be higher- it’s old- been around ~80 years, it attracts a huge crowd on thanksgiving morning, a rowdy crowd at that, it attracts extremely fast competition, Usually a few Olympians and ncaa champs, and the race itself it’s a blast.

Personally prefer the Brooklyn Half Marathon to the NYC Half Marathon, although the NYC Half does have a real elite field and Brooklyn not so much. BK Half is just more fun! And finishing in Coney Island is a lot more unique for an NYC resident than finishing in Central Park.

So glad to see my less-than-1-percent-public-land Iowa represent! Bix is a legit experience.

D-port though... may not be the greatest representative of our state...

I'd like to do Cherry Blossom (and/or Marine Corps), Big Sur, Dipsea or any of the northeast ones at some point. I do wish this list had been more of a "best of the rest" because everyone knows the marathon majors so of course they'll get spots.

I've done Boston and Cherry Blossom 10miler. Boston is well Boston. I really enjoyed Cherry Blossom 10miler. well organized, fast course. would do it again

Pittsburgh runner: I should be glad that any Pittsburgh races were on the list, but I'd rather see the marathon or the Great Race (10K) than the Liberty Mile. I haven't done the Liberty mile but the marathon and 10K are waaaay underrated (IMO).